Cruising Santa Barbara in the 2014 Toyota Highlander

This post was written by Renee of What Mommies Need. Travel was provided.

Recently, I was invited to attend the Media Preview for the new 2014 Toyota Highlander. While I was unable to attend, one of my best blogging friends, Renee from What Mommies Need, attended in my absence. Below you will find her account of the trip.

I was lucky enough to escape the unseasonable frigid temperatures of New Orleans and head West to Santa Barbara to check out Toyota’s newly redesigned 2014 Highlander. Now I will admit up front that I don’t know a lot about engines and such, but what I look for in a vehicle is comfort, safety and style. What I found is the new Highlander has plenty of all three!

This new redesign was done with the active family in mind and it shows! Some of the new features include:

The first thing I noticed about this vehicle is the stylish design. Let’s face it, I am a mom, but I have not crossed over to the mini-van and still wish to drive something fun. While the new Highlander is an eight-passenger vehicle, I feel like it looks cool and even sporty. I was even able to park this vehicle in a compact spot with room to spare.

My next big thing is safety and this SUV has it all and then some. As you can tell from the list above, Toyota has kept their high level of safety with this vehicle and I think they even kicked it up a few notches. I love the Pre-Collision system and Blind Spot Monitors!

Now, I want to talk about the interior. My husband is 6’4″ and I have two growing boys, so we need leg room. I was so happy to see that even with the passenger seat pushed all the way back, there was plenty of leg room in the second row. Not as much in the third, but that is not a priority for my family. The rest of the interior was beautiful and as a mom, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the in dash shelf, which is the perfect place for cell phones, and all the other junk we are handed while driving around the kiddos.

So, I have told you all about how it looks, what makes it safe, and what makes me happy as a mom, but now I am going to talk about how it drives. I was lucky enough to drive this beauty around Santa Barbara and even though I had only a navigation system to guide me, I was completely comfortable. This SUV drives quietly and so smooth. It was almost like I was driving a sedan, but with so much more space. Honestly, I wanted to drive it all the way back to NOLA. I am definitely keeping this vehicle on our short list when we have to go car shopping!

Pricing for the 2014 Highlander starts at $29,215 and is available in a Hybrid version. For more information about this vehicle, visit Toyota.com.

Subscribe

Brand Ambassador!

Search This Site

About the Author

Bridgette is the Owner/Editor of Experimental Mommy. A full time Mom of two daughters (ages 5 and 8) and lab technician, Bridgette has been blogging about the latest products for Mom, Baby and Kid since 2008.

In 2009, Bridgette co-founded a consultation service, Double Duty Divas, LLC in order to connect brands and bloggers. Expanding on this business, she also co-owns a blog conference, Reviewer's Retreat, which is geared towards strengthening relationships between bloggers and brands. [Read More …]